The Pittsburgh Steelers marched into Arrowhead Stadium Sunday and beat the best team in the league. If you didn’t know the records you’d swear the Steelers were the team that was 5-0 going in, not Kansas City. For three quarters the Chiefs were dominated on their home field. And then it happened. Pittsburgh transformed into their alter-ego and began making mistake after mistake. Doing their level best to give the game away. Whether it’s Artie Burns leaving receivers wide open, Mike Mitchell taking ridiculous penalties, or Ben Roethlisberger throwing a near game crushing interception, it was happening. Fortunately that 4th quarter pass was not intercepted, and Antonio Brown turned near disaster into an incredible touchdown. The Steelers overcame their own mistakes and pulled off a key victory.
There is no dominant team in the NFL in 2017. Every week good teams lose games they have no business losing. Even the mighty New England Patriots are struggling. The Pittsburgh Steelers have as much, or more talent than anyone in the league. The only question now is can they avoid beating themselves? So far this season, they haven’t been able to.
There’s a lot to overcome here. It starts with the off the field nonsense. It has become a weekly occurrence now where some distraction rears its ugly head. In just six weeks we’ve had the anthem debacle, AB vs the water cooler, Ben not having it anymore, and now Martavis wanting to be traded. It’s actually remarkable this team has a winning record with all these distractions going on. Imagine what the Steelers could accomplish if they were strictly concentrating on football.
On the field this team has things to iron out as well. Ben Roethlisberger has to play better, pure and simple. He has not been himself yet this season. That also bleeds into one of the biggest problems, red zone offense. This team is terrible within the red zone, and it’s costing them. If Pittsburgh had gotten touchdowns instead of field goals, the Kansas City game would have been out of reach. The 4th quarter gaffs by the defense that followed could have been avoided if that were the case. On defense it’s simple….. play more consistently against the run. The first three quarters of Sunday’s game were the best by showing by the defense in the Kieth Butler era by a wide margin. That kind of defense, combined with an improved passing game would make this team practically unstoppable. Of all years this is the one if Pittsburgh can avoid beating itself, there is no one else who can beat them.